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UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn has another date scheduled for his Octagon return.
The former UFC welterweight and lightweight champion, whose return from an two-year retirement has been postponed on several occasions, will meet featherweight standout Yair Rodriguez in the main event of a Jan. 15 Fight Night card in Phoenix. The UFC announced the fight on their Spanish-language website on Monday.

A middleweight fight between Rashad Evans and Tim Kennedy will not take place at UFC 206, according to Evans’ manager and Kennedy.
Evans was unable to get medical clearance for a fight license at the Dec. 10 event, manager Ali Abdelaziz today told MMAjunkie.

Sergio Pettis became a top 15 fighter in the UFC following his win over Chris Kelades, and now he’s getting the biggest fight of his life in Arizona. The 23-year-old flyweight is set to take on Jussier Formiga at the UFC Fight Night 103 card in Phoenix, AZ, on Jan. 15, sources told MMA Fighting.
Pettis (14-2) was expected to face Louis Smolka in October, but pulled out of the contest due to an injury. Coming off back-to-back decision wins over Kelades and Chris Cariaso, the Roufusport talent looks to improve to 3-1 since cutting down to 125 pounds.

Claudia Gadelha defeated Cortney Casey via unanimous decision Saturday night at UFC Fight Night 100, and would still have won even if referee Fernando Portella had deducted a point when she threw an illegal kick in the third round.
Casey was sitting on the ground when Gadelha threw a kick at her head. The Brazilian immediately apologized to her opponent, but later that night, at the post-fight press conference at the Ibirapuera gymnasium in Sao Paulo, Brazil, that the kick actually didn’t land. Casey disagrees.

UG hero Ian ‘Uncle Creepy’ McCall had his third fight in a row canceled on the eve of the event.
At UFC 201 in July opponent Justin Scoggins failed to make his contracted weight and the fight was scrapped. At UFC 203 in September opponent Ray Borg became ill and the fight was scrapped. This time it was McCall who became ill. McCall is currently in the hospital recovering.

Roy Nelson won’t be fighting anytime soon.
The long-time UFC heavyweight was issued a nine-month suspension, as well as a $24,000 fine, by the Brazilian Superior Justice Court of MMA (STJDMMA) for assault and unethical behavior following his knockout win over Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva on Sept. 24 at UFC Fight Night 95 in Brasilia, Brazil.
Nelson kicked veteran referee "Big" John McCarthy after the bout because he thought McCarthy took too long to stop the contest, forcing Nelson to hurt Silva more than he needed to win the fight. Later that night, at the post-fight press conference, Nelson apologized to McCarthy, but added that he "wouldn't take it back."

When Yoel Romero leaped into the air and landed a flying knee that sent former middleweight champion Chris Weidman crashing the canvas at UFC 205, the Cuban punched his ticket to a title shot.
The fight was billed a top contender’s bout and Romero delivered, stunning the crowd inside Madison Square Garden.
“I’ve trained very hard. It doesn’t matter whatever has happened in my life; it doesn’t matter how many ditches I’ve had to go through in my life. I keep going forward. God has given me (a shot at) the belt,” Romero said during his post-fight interview. “There’s an opportunity for the belt.”
UFC president Dana White confirmed that Romero would face champion Michael Bisping in his next outing during the UFC 205 post-fight press conference.

Nate Diaz thinks the UFC didn't want him or his brother Nick at UFC 205 on Saturday.
Diaz, Conor McGregor's greatest rival, told ESPN in a video published Tuesday night that he believes the promotion intentionally tried to keep the two of them out of Madison Square Garden for the UFC's first card in New York City.

A late injury to TUF Nations winner Chad Laprise has forced the UFC to scratch a welterweight contest between Laprise and Li Jingliang from the card of UFC 206. The UFC announced the news Wednesday.
Jingliang (11-4) is expected to be re-booked for a fight at a later date.

Awkward.
A new rivalry between Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and now multi-division title holder, Conor McGregor, seemed to be budding during this week in New York City after the two had a couple of confrontations in "The Empire State."
So when company president Dana White asked "The Chosen One" to loan him his belt for a hot minute in order to present a second title to Conor inside the Octagon after disposing of Eddie Alvarez in the main event (see it again here), Woodley put his bitterness toward Conor aside to oblige.
Though he wasn’t exactly thrilled.

UFC President Dana White doesn’t like to match-make on fight night, but he sure had a lot of ideas about potential scraps after UFC 205.
White revealed the likely direction for two UFC divisions, telling MMAjunkie a rematch between welterweight champ Tyron Woodley (16-3-1 MMA, 6-2-1 UFC) and Stephen Thompson (13-1-1 MMA, 8-1-1 UFC) should happen after the two fought to a majority draw.
“You rematch them,” White said. “It was a draw, and the fight was ridiculous. It was a ‘Fight of the Night.’ Do it again.”
Another fight that makes sense to the promoter is a middleweight title bout between champ Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) and Yoel Romero (13-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC), who knocked out ex-champ Chris Weidman (13-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC) in vicious fashion on the pay-per-view main card.
"Yeah, that’s the fight that makes sense,” White said. “He beat Chris Weidman tonight. I don’t know when, but that’s the fight.”

Conor McGregor had an announcement to make after becoming the first simultaneous two-weight-class champion in UFC history on Saturday night: He's going to become a father.
"I'm going to be a daddy early next year," the UFC lightweight and featherweight champion said during the UFC 205 post-fight press conference at New York's Madison Square Garden. "I'm crapping my jocks, it's messing with my head."
With a family to feed, McGregor has decided it's time to really cash in. His second-round knockout of Eddie Alvarez to claim the lightweight belt in the main event of UFC 205 capped the event which drew the biggest gate in the illustrious history of the world's most famous fight venue: UFC 205 drew a reported gate of $17.7 million, topping the record of $13.5M set by Evander Holyfield vs. Lennox Lewis in 1999.
And while the bombastic Irishman has certainly reaped financial benefits for his exploits, he wants more: With the company selling for an eye-popping $4.2B to Hollywood entertainment conglomerate WME-IMG this summer, McGregor bluntly stated that he want's what's his.
"If you want to come at me, if you want me to stick around and help service that debt and continue to push the company, bring me on board, for real," McGregor said. "I need to be set for life for this. If you want me to be truly on on board, then I need to be all-in on this proper, as an owner, and have an equity stake in the company. That's what I'm looking for."

NEW YORK – It was a historical event by virtue of being the UFC's first event at Madison Square Garden, and when Conor McGregor defeated Eddie Alvarez to become the promotion's first two-division champion it only solidified the date.
And UFC 205 was historical in other ways, too. Saturday night's event broke the all-time MSG live gate record, bringing in 17.7 million, outdoing boxing's title tilt between Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield back in 1999 ($13.5 million).
According to UFC president Dana White, the list of records goes on.
"Sitting here tonight we broke every record in UFC history tonight," he said in the post-fight press conference. "Every record. The only one I’m waiting on now is the FOX number, how did FOX Sports 1 do. It would be really, really weird and make no sense if we didn’t break that one too."

The famous Madison Square Garden was the home of an historic night of fights. A card topped by no less than 4 champions saw four (T)KOs, one submission and six decisions. The prelims had a great argument for being the greatest set of prelims in 2016, and the main card brought the action as well. Here’s who won the bonuses for the very best performances.
Performances of the Night: Yoel Romero and Conor McGregor
Fight of the Night: Stephen Thompson vs. Tyron Woodley

Kelvin Gastelum's time at welterweight appears to be at an end.
Following yet another botched weight cut by Gastelum, this time ahead of his pivotal UFC 205 showdown against Donald Cerrone, UFC president Dana White made it clear that the UFC is done giving the TUF 17 winner further chances to prove himself at 170 pounds.

Friday's news that the UFC 205 bout between Donald Cerrone and Kelvin Gastelum at UFC 205 was scrapped due to Gastelum's weight-cutting issues was a big disappointment for fans going to Saturday night's show at Madison Square Garden.
But the fight fallout has apparently led to what on paper looks like a better action fight just down the road. Cerrone will meet veteran slugger Matt Brown next month in a welterweight matchup at UFC 206 in Toronto, sources tell MMAFighting.com's Ariel Helwani.

Former longtime UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones will be eligible to return from his latest suspension in July. But that doesn't mean Dana White is in any rush to put him back on the top of the card.
Speaking on a Sirius XM town hall hosted by sportscaster Jim Rome on Thursday, White said putting Jones atop the bill is too risky a proposition.